Tokyo (CNN) ​– Pressed on whether he would use military force to defend an obscure set of islands controlled by Japan, President Barack Obama offered a robust and sometimes testy defense of his foreign policy as it applies to Ukraine and Syria.

At a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, the President said the U.S. security pact with Japan does extend to the Senkaku islands that are at the heart of a heated dispute with China.

Washington (CNN) - Kathryn Ruemmler, the top White House lawyer who became a key adviser to President Barack Obama, will leave her post in May, a White House official said on Monday.

Ruemmler will return to private practice after her time serving Obama. She has advised the President on a number of delicate issues, most recently the CIA's clash with the Senate over allegations of spying on Intelligence Committee staffers.

Washington (CNN) – It was a brief but fleeting reminder of the messy rollout of the Obamacare website. In the early morning hours of the final day of open enrollment, the government's health care website experienced technical problems as troubleshooters worked on a "software bug," a senior administration official said.

"System isn't available at the moment. We're currently performing maintenance," the message on HealthCare.gov said.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (CNN) - The United States and Saudi Arabia are "very much aligned" despite recent policy differences over Iran and Syria, a senior U.S. official said following a meeting between President Barack Obama and King Abdullah.

Sitting down face to face with the King at his desert retreat, Rawdat Khuraim, outside the capital, Obama reiterated the United States is determined to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Washington (CNN) – In a speech aimed at rallying his party's base, President Obama painted Republicans as only focused on "opportunity for a few" in an address laying out his vision for the midterm elections to fellow Democrats Friday night.

In a return to his "year of action" theme, the President discussed the upcoming release of his 2015 budget as well as what he thinks the party should be fighting for during remarks to the Democratic National Committee's Winter Meeting here in the nation's capital.

"The choice could not be clearer. Opportunity for a few or opportunity for all, that’s what this election is about. As Democrats, we have a different idea of what the future looks like – an idea rooted in our conviction that our economy grows best not from the top down, but from the middle out. That’s what an opportunity agenda offers," Obama said.FULL POST